Tag: live performances

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Auteurs Bands composers hit singles Music music videos photography Poetic Genius Psychedelic Music Singers Syd Barrett

Look Homeward, Angel: The Great Syd Barrett.

Syd Barrett, co-founder and main braintrust of Pink Floyd until his mental state made his departure inevitable, was without doubt one of the greatest, most original musicians of his time. Until being ousted from the band, he contributed the vast majority of the material.

Embarking on a solo career, Barrett composed and performed a wealth of brilliant, if patchwork, songs. Flashes of his genius abounded, but his increasingly erratic behavior made production quite challenging, indeed. Syd released 2 albums worth of material, then retired to private life for the rest of his days.

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Bands Gang of Four Guitarists hit singles Improvisers Music music videos photography

Gang of Four.

Formed in 1976 by guitar maestro Andy Gill, vocalist Jon King, drummer Hugo Burnham, and bassist Dave Allen, Gang of Four produced some of the most crucial music of the late 70s-early 80s. Acerbic, satirical lyrics that were extremely socially aware were the group’s calling card, as was Gill’s formidable guitar work. The rhythm section generally laid down hard funk grooves, yet the music was spare, angular, jagged. A critical assemblage.

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Bands Burton Cummings hit singles Music music videos photography The Guess Who vocalists

The Guess Who, Randy Bachman, and Burton Cummings.

Vocalist/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman led the Canadian band The Guess Who to legend and lore by the late sixties. Personnel changes ensued, with Bachman leaving to form BTO, and Cummings pursued a solo career. The band, though, touched the skies during their heyday. Randy Bachman’s composing and guitar skills were instrumental. Cummings leaves a legacy as one of the greatest vocalists ever to walk the earth.

In closing…the development of the BTO hit You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet deserves a read. Here.

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Bass Clarinet Eric Dolphy Jazz Music performers photography

Eric Dolphy.

Eric was simply otherworldly in his approach, especially on bass clarinet and alto saxophone. A number of jazz titans held him near and dear, including Charles Mingus and John Coltrane, with whom some of his most stunning work was achieved. No one sounds remotely like Eric Dolphy. In his improvisations, he could be intensely intimate and tender, or utterly explosive and groundbreaking, or both, often in rapid succession.

Upon hearing of Eric’s death, at 36, Mingus said:
” Usually, when a man dies, you remember—or you say you remember—only the good things about him. With Eric, that’s all you could remember. I don’t remember any drags he did to anybody. The man was absolutely without a need to hurt.”

Dolphy’s shocking death came shortly before the release of his masterpiece, Out to Lunch. He was very interested in playing in Albert Ayler’s group, and was even preparing to play with Cecil Taylor.

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hit singles Music music videos performers photography Singers vocalists

Ms. Linda Ronstadt.

Singer Linda Ronstadt (circa 1978)

Gifted with one of the most magnificent voices ever to be heard, Linda Ronstadt knew how to use it, as well. A vibrant performer with great presence, as is well-documented in the above vids. Can’t fault her material, either; she covered the likes of Emitt Rhodes, Warren Zevon, and Buddy Holly, to name just a few. A remarkable vocalist.

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Drummer Vocalists Music music videos photography

Drummer Vocalists.

Noteworthy practitioners of drumming who also have pipes. Paper Lace with Philip Wright, Ozark Mountain Daredevils with Larry Lee, Jigsaw with Des Dyer, and of course Karen Carpenter, though she’s away from the set in this performance.

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Hard Rock hit singles Music music videos photography

AC/DC, and Bon Scott.

AC/DC has had a long reign, with many great moments. But, at their very best, they had perhaps the most charismatic front man/lead singer ever to draw breath: the great Bon Scott.

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Charisma dance hit singles Jackie Wilson Music music videos photography vocalists

Jackie Wilson: Higher and Higher.

The great Jackie Wilson gives two electric performances of Higher and Higher, circa 1974. His mindboggling gifts are on full display throughout; it’s as if time/space were suspended.

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Jazz John Coltrane Music music videos performers photography saxophone Tenor Saxophone

John Coltrane.

Transition.
Spiritual.
Liberia.
Amen.
Compassion. {First Meditations: for quartet}
Mr. P.C.
Equinox.
Bye Bye Blackbird. (Live, 1960, Olympia with Miles Davis)
All Blues. (Live, 1960, Stockholm. w/Miles Davis)
So What. (Stockholm, 1960)
Cosmos: {Live in Seattle, 1965}.
Out of This World. (Live in Seattle)
Your Lady.
Dear Lord.

Saxophonist John Coltrane’s impossibly oracular, incantatory power as an improviser simply cannot be described. He provided one of the high-water marks in music history with his ground-and-everything-else-breaking work in the 1960’s, featuring his immortal quartet {McCoy Tyner, piano; Elvin Jones, drums/percussion; and Jimmy Garrison, bass}.

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hit singles Music music videos Neil Diamond photography singer songwriters Singers vocalists

Neil Diamond.

One of the greatest performers, ever. Period. The mighty Neil Diamond is here featured, with some of his most powerful compositions, delivered live, with superhuman intensity. Iterations of trademark embellishments, the origins of which remain a mystery to this day, abound.